With Or Without You

 Caroline Leavitt is an author who once suffered a medically induced coma for several months after the birth of her child. That is why she wrote With Or Without You, a novel about a woman who goes into a coma. Stella is a nurse living in Manhattan. She is forty years old and her biological clock is ticking. Her partner, Simon, is a guitar player in a band that has seen better days. While Stella is organized and responsible, Simon acts like a teen aged boy. Their relationship is on rocky ground when Stella lapses into a coma. In Stella's coma, she is aware that she is in a coma and can hear people talking to her. She can feel when her body is washed or turned side to side. This was the author's way to process her own situation and sell a book at the same time. The entire story is not about the coma but it does focus on the fact that life can turn on a dime, people can let you down, and if you don't process your past you might end up to scared to take any risks to improve your future.